Do Re Mi

Adia knows her Do, Re, Mi's. She is 17 months old.

If you are a parent who is interested in music education, I would specifically recommend researching the "solfege" system and enrolling immediately in a music school which incorporates this type of education.

I learned the piano when I was 3 years old. I recall the sticker books that my piano teacher used to bribe us. Every correctly played note or song would earn me a sticker. At that time, I was more interested in filling up my sticker book, but in my teen years, as I went to church, I began recognizing that I had a unique skill - sight-reading, which came as a direct result of my early years in solfege education.

What is solfege?

Solfege is an important part of learning to read music and is a technique used to teach sight-singing or sight reading.

Each note in solfege is sung to a different syllable do, re, me, fa, so, la, ti, and each note has a corresponding hand sign (as seen in photos).

To teach your child solfege do the following: (I prefer setting Do to Middle C on the piano - note you can set "do" on other notes, but for ease, Do on Middle C is preferred).

1. Sing DO to the first pitch of any major scale (i.e. if you choose the major C scale, C would be your first note).

2. Now, sing and sign do with your hand (as seen in photo below).

3. Have your child sing and sign do. If needed, help mold your child's hand into the do shape until he or she can sign do his or herself.

4. Continue to teach your child every solfege sign and syllable.

5. Note: Solfege is a great way to introduce music to your baby!

Solfege Pronunciation:

Do = Doh (For the C scale you will sing C pitch)

Re = Ray (For the C scale you will sing D pitch)

Mi = Mee (For the C scale you will sing E pitch)

Fa = Fah (For the C scale your will sing F pitch)

So = Soh (For the C scale you will sing G pitch)

La = Lah (For the C scale you will sing A pitch)

Ti = Tee (For the C scale you will sing B pitch)

Do!

It was done in Sound of Music.

Adia already knows approximately 20 songs, in entirety.

On a related note, Adia has been exposed to Chinese and English simultaneously since birth. I believe that the intonations of the two different languages is also directly linked to her music ability. Music is imitation by ear. To be tone-deaf means you cannot hear the note and imitate it...this results in off-tune singing. On American Idol, this is referred to as "pitchy - ness". If you sing too "high" for the note, you are "sharp." If it's too low, you are "flat."

I am fascinated by music education and it is my hope that one day, I will have the resources to bring it back to our public and private schools.

DO RE MI FA SO LA TI DO!!!!